ASIAN SHARES RETREAT AS US RATE-CUT HOPES DIM

Asian equities retreated yesterday, with Singapore stocks tumbling from record highs, as hawkish US Federal Reserve comments sparked a global selloff and dimmed hopes of an interest rate cut next month.

- NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG

The SET index moved in a range of 1,263.62 and 1,310.71 points this week, before closing yesterday at 1,269.26, down 2.6% from the previous week, with daily turnover averaging 32.92 billion baht.

Retail investors were net buyers of 5.83 billion baht. Foreign investors were net sellers of 4.93 billion, followed by institutional investors at 898.21 million and brokerage firms at 0.71 million.

NEWSMAKERS:

President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed into law a funding bill to end the longest federal government shutdown in US history after 43 days. The measure will fund government operations through the end of January, when the drama could be repeated.

■Wall Street indices suffered their biggest one-day decline in a month on Thursday as investor bets for a December rate cut took a dive after three regional Fed presidents expressed their concerns about US inflation persisting above the long-term target of 2%. Fed Fund Futures pricing now suggests only a 50% chance of a December cut.

■Gold rose above $4,200 an ounce yesterday, heading for its best week in a month, as traders wrestled with uncertainty about a backlog of economic data to be released as the US government opens.

■Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the negative aspects of a weak yen on the economy have become more pronounced than the positive ones. She also said Japan still faced the risk of returning to deflation.

■Japan's goods trade balance in the April-September period improved to a surplus of ¥49.4 billion, the first surplus since the first half of fiscal 2021.

■Russia plans to issue yuan-denominated government bonds with maturities of 3-7 years on Dec 8. It expects to tap vast amounts of yuan liquidity accumulated by exporters and banks from Russian energy sales to China.